In another jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of its sitting MLAs on Sunday joined the Congress after being denied a party ticket for the December 1 assembly election.

Parbatlal Ahirwar, who represents Khargapur assembly segment, announced his decision at a press conference at the state Congress headquarters in Bhopal.

He is the second BJP MLA in the state to quit the party and join the congress after failing to get tickets. The first was Dindori MLA Joharsingh Marawi.

An angry Ahirwar alleged that though the BJP had decided on his name as its nominee from Khargapur, he was 'betrayed' at the eleventh hour. Harishanker Khatik was asked to file his papers on the last day of nomination on November 14 at the behest of firebrand leader Uma Bharti, he alleged.